Aegithalos Caudatus (Long tailed Tit)

Source: British Garden Birds (www.garden-birds.co.uk)

Description

The Long-tailed Tit is a small, fluffy, pinkish bird. The shoulders and underparts are pinkish, and the head is striped black and white. They have red eyes, and a very small bill. The black and white tail is very long,  over half the length of the bird and the longest tail of any British bird in proportion to its body.

Voice

Their high-pitched twittering contact calls will usually get them noticed; typically "tsee-tsee-tsee".

Feeding

They feed mostly on insects and their larvae, and spiders, but also on berries. Increasingly, Long-tailed Tits are feeding from peanut feeders and peanut suet cake in gardens.

Breeding

The Long-tailed Tit's nest is an elastic ball of moss, spiders' webs, lichen, feathers, and hair that is built by both birds in a bush, hedge or tree; brambles and gorse are favourite places. The nest may take up to 3 weeks to build and be lined with more than 2000 feathers.
The female lays and incubates smooth and glossy eggs that are white with purplish-red spots, and are about 14 mm by 10 mm. Both adults feed the newly-hatched young, and are often assisted by other birds, especially males, that have failed to breed that season.

Distribution

Comments

The Long-tailed Tits usually fly around in flocks of up to twenty or so, and they are twittering continually to one another. When they are in the trees, they can be seen busily flitting from branch to branch looking for insects. Long-tailed tits are very acrobatic and will hang upside-down from the end of branches, etc.

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